1959 in literature
The year 1959 in literature involved some significant events and new books. Events *April 30 - Theatrical première of Bertolt Brecht's Saint Joan of the Stockyards, originally performed on radio in 1932. *Aldous Huxley turns down the offer of a knighthood. *First appearance of Astérix the Gaul. *Colin Dexter begins teaching at Corby Grammar School. *Frank Herbert begins researching Dune. *Frederik Pohl becomes editor of Galaxy magazine. *Marcel Achard is elected to the Académie française. *D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover (1928) legally circulates in the U.S. after a 31 year obscenity ban. (See Grove Press, Inc. v. Christenberry) New books *Isaac Asimov - Nine Tomorrows *Saul Bellow - Henderson the Rain King *Robert Bloch - Psycho *Ray Bradbury - A Medicine for Melancholy *John Brunner **''Echo in the Skull'' **''The World Swappers'' *Algis Budrys - The Falling Torch *William S. Burroughs - Naked Lunch *Taylor Caldwell - Dear and Glorious Physician *John Dickson Carr - Scandal at High Chimneys: A Victorian Melodrama *Agatha Christie - Cat Among the Pigeons *Ivy Compton-Burnett - A Heritage and Its History *Richard Condon - The Manchurian Candidate *Alexander Cordell - Rape of the Fair Country *Julio Cortázar - Las armas secretas (short stories) *Richard Crichton - The Great Impostor *Allen Drury - Advise and Consent *Alfred Duggan - Children of the Wolf *Lawrence Durrell - Mountolive *Ian Fleming - Goldfinger *Paul Gallico - Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris *William Golding - Free Fall *Günter Grass - The Tin Drum *Robert A. Heinlein **''The Menace From Earth'' **''Starship Troopers'' **''The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag'' *Shirley Jackson - The Haunting of Hill House *John Knowles - A Separate Peace *William J. Lederer and Eugene L. Burdick - The Ugly American *H.P. Lovecraft and Divers Hands - The Shuttered Room and Other Pieces *John Lymington - Night of the Big Heat *John D. MacDonald **''Deadly Welcome'' **''The Beach Girls'' **''The Crossroads'' *Colin MacInnes - Absolute Beginners *Alistair MacLean - Night Without End *Naguib Mahfouz - The Children of Gebelaawi *Norman Mailer - Advertisements for Myself *James A. Michener - Hawaii *Mervyn Peake - Titus Alone *Robert Randall (pseudonym of Robert Silverberg and Randall Garrett) - The Dawning Light *Mordecai Richler - The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz *Philip Roth - Goodbye, Columbus *Robert Ruark - Poor No More *Nathalie Sarraute - Le Planétarium *Alan Sillitoe - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner *Terry Southern - The Magic Christian *Rex Stout - Plot It Yourself *John Updike - The Same Door *Leon Uris - Exodus *Kurt Vonnegut - The Sirens of Titan *Keith Waterhouse - Billy Liar *Sheila Watson - The Double Hook New drama * Edward Albee - The Death of Bessie Smith (written) * Jean Anouilh - Becket * John Arden - Serjeant Musgrave's Dance * Samuel Beckett - Embers (first broadcast) * Bertolt Brecht - Saint Joan of the Stockyards (first performed) * Albert Camus - The Possessed * Jean Genet - The Blacks (first performed) * Lorraine Hansberry - A Raisin in the Sun * Eugène Ionesco - The Killer * Judith Malina - The Connection * Harold Pinter - The Caretaker (first published) * Jean-Paul Sartre - The Condemned of Altona * N. F. Simpson - One Way Pendulum * Arnold Wesker - Roots and The Kitchen * Tennessee Williams - Sweet Bird of Youth Poetry Non-fiction *Kenneth Anger - Hollywood Babylon *Thomas B. Costain - The Three Edwards (Third book in the Plantagenet or Pageant of England series) *L. Sprague de Camp - Engines *August Derleth **''Arkham House: The First 20 Years'' **''Some Notes on H. P. Lovecraft'' *Savitri Devi - Impeachment of Man *C. S. Forester - Sink the Bismarck! aka The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck *Erving Goffman - The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life *Laurie Lee - Cider With Rosie *Miguel León-Portilla - Visión de los vencidos: Relaciones indígenas de la conquista *Garrett Mattingly - The Defeat of the Spanish Armada *Karl Popper - The Logic of Scientific Discovery *Cornelius Ryan - The Longest Day *William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White - The Elements of Style Births *March 15 - Ben Okri, poet and novelist *March 11 - Dejan Stojanović, Serbian-American poet, writer, essayist, philosopher, businessman, and former journalist *March 18 - Frédéric-Yves Jeannet, novelist and critic *May 3 - Ben Elton, British comedian and author *August 27 - Jeanette Winterson, novelist *October 31 - Neal Stephenson - science fiction writer *''date unknown'' **Paul Anderson, journalist **Maurice Georges Dantec, science fiction author **R. A. Salvatore, science fiction and fantasy author Deaths *January 3 - Edwin Muir, poet, novelist and translator *January 29 - Pauline Smith, novelist *February 22 - Percy F. Westerman, children's author *February 23 - Luis Palés Matos, poet *February 28 - Maxwell Anderson, playwright, film writer *March 26 - Raymond Chandler, American novelist *April 14 - Julien Josephson, screenwriter *May 18 - Apsley Cherry-Garrard, explorer and memoirist *June 23 - Boris Vian, French novelist *June 30 - José Vasconcelos, political writer *September 18 - Benjamin Péret, poet *''date unknown'' **Olga Knipper, widow of Anton Chekhov and star of many of his plays **Alfred Schütz, philosopher and sociologist Awards * Carnegie Medal for children's literature: Rosemary Sutcliff, The Lantern Bearers * Hugo Award for Best Novel: James Blish, A Case of Conscience * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction: Morris West, The Devil's Advocate * James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography: Christopher Hassall, Edward Marsh * Miles Franklin Award: Vance Palmer, The Big Fellow * Newbery Medal for children's literature: Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond * Nobel Prize for literature: Salvatore Quasimodo * Premio Nadal: Ana María Matute, Primera memoria * Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Archibald MacLeish, J. B. * Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Robert Lewis Taylor, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters * Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Stanley Kunitz, Selected Poems 1928-1958 * Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry: Francis Cornford External links * Category:Years in literature Category:History of literature Category:Literature by year